Payment platform Lava raises $5.8M to build digital wallets for the ‘agent-native economy’
Lava is a digital wallet that lets merchants use credits to facilitate transactions.
Fintech
Final call: TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 ticket savings end tonight
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 marks 20 years of shaping the startup world — and tonight’s your last chance to save up to $675 on your ticket. From October 27–29, Disrupt returns to Moscone West in San Francisco. Join 10,000+ tech innovators, founders, VCs, and ecosystem builders for three days of high-impact programming, networking, and startup energy. […]
Only 2 days left to save $675 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 ticket
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 marks 20 years of driving the startup world forward — and you’ve got just two days left to join the movement and save up to $675 on your ticket. From October 27–29, Moscone West becomes the home base for over 10,000 movers and makers in the tech world. Join us in San […]
AI-powered fintech Alaan raises $48M, one of the largest Series A rounds in MENA
When Parthi Duraisamy was a consultant at McKinsey’s Dubai office, he discovered that the American Express cards his company relied on for corporate expenses were rarely accepted in the Middle East. This forced Duraisamy to cover significant travel expenses out of pocket and file endless expense reports. “It was a constant pain,” Duraisamy explained on […]
Uzbekistan’s first unicorn, Uzum, leaps to a $1.5B valuation
Uzbekistan’s Uzum has raised $65.5 million in a new funding round co-led by China’s Tencent and the New York- and London-based VR Capital, with participation from U.S.-based FinSight Capital.
Handwave lends a hand to retailers with its European alternative to Amazon’s palm payments
Latvian startup Handwave aims to compete with Amazon palm payments by offering an independent alternative.
Chime backer Lauren Kolodny bets on AI to revolutionize estate processing
Acrew Capital’s Kolodny led a $20 million Series A in Alix, a startup that uses AI to automate estate processing.